They first needed to drip the tracking potion from the grove to the goblin nest.

Elise had shown that her physical abilities were seemingly bottomless, but her zombies could only autonomously execute simple commands. She would have to keep a short distance from the kobold in order to see the path and guide it properly. Kynos would escort her, being the strongest and most mobile.

Erwin and Otto would wait near the grove, ready to lob potions at the creatures of the grove, especially the guardian treants, as they engaged the goblins. Erwin would observe the reactions and any mutations on the goblins for as long as possible. They would have to sacrifice the kobold, but there was a backup alchemical lamp in the wagon in border town.

After the four of them regrouped, Erwin would set off a contained fire to prevent any pursuers and they would move back to camp.

Kynos lifted Elise into a tree near the main nest entrance as Erwin and Otto walked towards the grove. The two of them sat on a high branch, watching an increasingly larger amount of goblins find their way back to camp. The creatures didn't have a uniform color, and many bore scars, but they all blended into the mossy, earthy colors of the forest.

He did his best to count the ones that he could see or that triggered his shadow web, but Kynos lost count at a little over two hundred. Any seasoned adventurer would've immediately aborted the mission and rushed back to Widala to report on the imminent surge and attack of the goblins, but having seen how weak each individual was, Kynos didn't think much of the numbers.

Elise had also noticed that some of the goblins were carrying sticks and stones. Goblins were supposed to be stupid creatures that mobbed prey with their hard nails, but some of these had started using tools all of a sudden. Still, she couldn't risk speaking to convey this to Kynos, since goblins were constantly passing underneath.

In time, the last few beams of light faded and the flow of goblins stopped. Kynos hooked up the alchemic light to the kobold in the meager glow of the moons, then lowered it to the ground, following after with himself and Elise. They downed Erwin's potions, albeit reluctantly,

The light, mounted on the kobold's head, easily picked up the bright blue stain on the ground in the darkness of night. As Elise moved to the side and the zombie got on all fours, Kynos slung a vial at the nest entrance. It shattered and shortly after, a firebolt followed it in, erupting into a giant explosion.

The goblins that flooded out of the nest was met by the sight of a howling kobold, marked with a clear blue glow. The first few let out a bloodcurdling screech, and the rest of the nest poured out like a flood. The kobold took off, running relatively slowly with a staggering gait, and the goblins immediately gave chase.

Normally they wouldn't think to engage a kobold pack, but against a single one, the goblins lost any semblance of fear. Kynos glided along the ground, using his magic to keep Elise from tripping over any exposed roots or stray rocks, as they shadowed the kobold from the side. Elise was masterfully manipulating the creature to run just slowly enough that a few goblins could get at it.

In reality, the kobold had insect carapace on almost all of its back, so the goblins would've been hard pressed to even hurt it. On top of that, the thing was a zombie in the first place, meaning it wouldn't be slowed until its body was destroyed beyond repair. Still, the goblins chased it, thinking they were on the verge of bringing it down.

Any goblins that closed in on the two were silently skewered by Kynos, so Elise used her insects to encourage the goblins from the back and sides, stinging to keep them running in a tight knit pack. A few dozen stray goblins in the back gave up on the chase, but like that, the two herded nearly two hundred goblins into the grove.